DNA Damage News and Research

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eChIP genetic technique developed to examine FA proteins with DNA crosslinks

While Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare and dangerous disease, new laboratory research at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shows it may lead researchers toward clues in more common diseases, including highly hereditary types of breast cancer.

11 Sep 2009

Yeast mutants may yield new opportunities for anticancer drug development

Until now, the mode of action of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) cancer drugs, used to relieve bone pain and to prevent skeletal complications in bone metastasis, has been almost entirely unknown. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology have used 'barcoded' yeast mutants to identify new biological processes involved in the cellular response to N-BPs, opening up opportunities for the development of new anticancer drugs.

10 Sep 2009

Research reveals new protective properties of vitamin C

Researchers at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal studied new protective properties of vitamin C in cells from the human skin, which could lead to better skin regeneration.

9 Sep 2009

Oxidative DNA damage: Primary cause of mutation

A study that tracked genetic mutations through the human equivalent of about 5,000 years has demonstrated for the first time that oxidative DNA damage is a primary cause of the process of mutation - the fuel for evolution but also a leading cause of aging, cancer and other diseases.

8 Sep 2009

Albert Einstein College of Medicine receives $11.2 million NIH grant to study genes associated with longevity

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $11.2 million grant to study the impact of damage to DNA on aging and disease. Research funded by this grant, and conducted by a consortium of scientists, could reveal the role of genome maintenance systems in delaying aging and will begin to explore novel interventions to maintain health in old age.

28 Aug 2009

Chk1 and Fbx6 play an important role for the regulation of response to chemotherapy

Cell cycle checkpoints act like molecular tripwires for damaged cells, forcing them to pause and take stock. Leave the tripwire in place for too long, though, and cancer cells will press on regardless, making them resistant to the lethal effects of certain types of chemotherapy, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

28 Aug 2009

Research study reveals that high-fructose corn syrup is used as a sweetener in beverages

Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees.

27 Aug 2009

Disrupting the DNA-repair process

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have uncovered the mechanism behind a promising new approach to cancer treatment: damaging cancer cells' DNA with potent drugs while simultaneously preventing the cells from repairing themselves.

18 Aug 2009

Potential new treatment for drug resistant brain tumors

Dr. Karen Newell, Ph. D., the lead researcher for bio technology company Viral Genetics (Pink Sheets: VRAL), will address the 4th Annual Aspen Symposium on Brain Tumor Immuno- and Stem Cell Therapy. Her presentation will highlight the potential for combining chemotherapy with compounds that interfere with the ability of brain tumor cells to generate the energy needed to repair chemotherapy induced DNA damage.

12 Aug 2009

Discovery of 'marker' molecule offers hope for liver cancer test

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered a 'marker' molecule which could pinpoint when liver cells start to become cancerous, reveals research published in Science*.

9 Aug 2009

Genetic profiling of tumors could have 'immediate impact' on treating cancer

New work by MIT cancer biologists shows that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumors determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy.

6 Aug 2009

Protein DNA repair complex key to avoiding DNA repair mistakes

As the body creates antibodies to fight invaders, a three-protein DNA repair complex called MRN is crucial for a normal gene-shuffling process to proceed properly, University of Michigan research shows.

5 Aug 2009

New clues about the roots of neurological disease

Switching off a key DNA repair system in the developing nervous system is linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and emotion, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists.

27 Jul 2009

New discovery on DNA repair mechanism

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shed new light on a process that fixes breaks in the genetic material of the body's cells. Their findings could lead to ways of enhancing chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells by damaging their DNA.

17 Jul 2009

Surprising new insights into the repair strategies of DNA

A microscopic single-celled organism, adapted to survive in some of the harshest environments on earth, could help scientists gain a better understanding of how cancer cells behave.

15 Jul 2009

One secret to how tuberculosis resists the host immune system

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is arguably the world's most successful infectious agent because it knows how to avoid elimination by slowing its own growth to a crawl. Now, a report in the July 10 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers new insight into the bugs' talent for meager living.

9 Jul 2009

Daily sex good for sperm!

An Australian scientist says a daily dose of sex is the best thing for producing healthy sperm and daily ejaculation works just as well.

5 Jul 2009

Frequent sex improves sperm quality

Daily sex (or ejaculating daily) for seven days improves men's sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage, according to an Australian study presented today (Tuesday) to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.

30 Jun 2009

Don't stress when the going gets tough - you'll go gray!

A study by Japanese researchers has revealed that a certain kind of stress damages the hair - they say "genotoxic stress" damages DNA by depleting the melanocyte stem cells (MSCs) within hair follicles that are responsible for making the pigment-producing cells.

14 Jun 2009

Genotoxic stress makes your hair go gray

Those pesky graying hairs that tend to crop up with age really are signs of stress, reveals a new report in the June 12 issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication.

12 Jun 2009